The role of the manager remains fundamentally unchanged. Setting clear boundaries, rallying a team, and providing useful feedback remain the cornerstones of management. What is changing is the intensity of the context in which these fundamentals are applied. Sustained economic pressure, generative AI, increasingly cross-functional organizations, and the hybridization of work. Managers must contend with new demands that make these skills even more critical.

The findings of the Key Skills 2026Study conducted by NUMA highlight four recurring concerns:

• prioritize in a high-pressure environment,
• working together to overcome silos,
• innovate in a climate of trust,
• embody and relay change.
  

By 2026, these challenges will only grow. Organizations must therefore strengthen certain key managerial skills in order to continue moving forward in the long term. Four priorities stand out.

1. Engage and influence: mobilize without authority

Organizations are increasingly operating in a cross-functional and matrix-based manner. Structuring projects are often led by experts, project managers, or advisors, with no direct hierarchical link. In this context, formal power is no longer sufficient. It is necessary to convince, align, and unite. However, the study highlights a marked gap between expectations and practices:

• 47% of employees do not know how to adopt the right approach to get their ideas across.
• 38% say they do not know how to identify and overcome their barriers to change.
  

Faced with uncertainty, many organizations reactivate their control reflexes. In the short term, this is reassuring. In the long term, it stifles initiative and demotivates. The challenge then becomes clear: to create engagement without imposing, and to make change a collective movement rather than a top-down transformation.

Vision of success

In 2026, successful managers will not be those who rely on their status, but those who inspire others to follow them. They will know how to create alignment in cross-functional environments, engage others without authority, and transform employees into agents of change, capable of relaying the momentum around them.

This approach is based on three key drivers:

• an inspiring managerial presence,
• a climate of psychological safety conducive to initiative,
• the ability to embody and convey a clear vision, even when the course changes.
  

Related skills to develop in your teams:
Influence; collaborative leadership; team motivation; impactful communication; change management; situational leadership; managerial posture.

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2. Strengthen your business culture: put the customer back at the center

Business culture is no longer reserved for a handful of expert roles. It is becoming a cross-functional expectation, affecting both operational teams and support functions. In a context of sustained economic pressure, organizations expect employees to be able to step outside their remit and actively contribute to value creation. However, the study reveals a persistent gap:

• 43% of employees do not feel comfortable preparing for negotiations,
• 46% do not know how to assess the customer impact of their decisions.
  

For many, the link between daily work, decisions made, and value created for the customer remains unclear. Putting the customer back at the center is therefore not about adding yet another KPI, but rather making it a shared benchmark that guides decisions and gives meaning to actions.

Vision of success

In 2026, managers and teams share the same reflex: thinking and acting based on customer experience. The customer is no longer an abstract target at the end of the chain, but a common language that aligns teams, informs decisions, and guides priorities.

This approach allows decisions to be made at the right level and at the right time, embracing uncertainty rather than suffering from it. The role of the manager is crucial: clarifying the framework, setting customer-oriented benchmarks, and allowing initiative to be taken without excessive control. Action becomes more fluid, faster, and more value-creating.

Related skills to develop in your teams:
Active listening; customer focus; collaborating with different styles; decision-making in uncertain situations; assertiveness; initiative; goal setting; delegation; coaching as a manager.

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3. Build endurance: establish sustainable performance

In a context of sustained pressure, the question is no longer about doing more and more, but about sustaining performance over time. Peaks in activity follow one after another, transformations overlap, and teams often move forward without any real recovery time. The study highlights two major weaknesses:

• 44% of managers are uncomfortable delegating the management of objectives,
• 38% of employees find it difficult to have difficult one-on-one conversations.
  

When decisions are not made and sensitive issues are avoided, the workload piles up, tension rises, and performance declines. Endurance is therefore not a matter of individual ability to "take the heat," but rather a clear managerial framework capable of regulating the pace and protecting the collective dynamic.

Vision of success

In 2026, the manager who will stand the test of time is the one who knows how to set and maintain boundaries, even under pressure. They take on the role of referee, speak up when necessary, and adjust the team's pace to avoid both burnout and stagnation. This approach is based on clear-headed management of collective energy. Managers lead by example, set clear boundaries, and seek not to constantly accelerate, but to maintain a steady momentum aligned with real priorities and available energy.

Related skills to develop in your teams:
Prioritization; time and energy management; setting individual goals; team rituals; managing emotions and conflicts; difficult conversations

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4. Switch to skills mode: continuous learning

Jobs are changing rapidly, but development benchmarks remain unclear for a large proportion of employees. The issue is no longer just about training, but about providing clarity and direction in changing career paths. The study highlights this discrepancy:

• 38% of employees are unable to identify their priority areas for development,
• 89% of HR managers place engagement and retention at the top of their priorities.
  

Refocusing development on skills helps to address this lack of clarity. Skills become a more stable benchmark than positions, capable of supporting role changes, mobility, and organizational transformations.

Vision of success

In 2026, organizations no longer manage solely by job titles, but by skills. Managers and employees share a common language about what creates value, what needs to be strengthened, and how to make progress over time. Skills become a living, breathing part of everyday life, fueled by regular feedback, team meetings, and development conversations. Employees find it easier to plan for the future and remain engaged, even when their role changes. Managers, for their part, fully embrace the role of coach and anticipate the key skills that need to be developed to meet the organization's future needs.

Related skills to develop in your teams:
Capitalizing on strengths; analyzing motivational drivers; individual points; development conversations; team strategy

Discover our related training courses.

The key managerial skills for 2026 respond to clearly identified challenges: complexity, sustained pressure, and rapid transformation of professions. By structuring development around these four priorities, organizations give themselves clear benchmarks for decision-making, cooperation, sustainability, and change management. To access the complete data and detailed analyses, download the Key Skills 2026 Study.